Abraham Gazes Beyond the Firmament with God

[4] "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows" (Psalms 45:8). Rabbi Azariah in the name of Rabbi Aha explained the verse as referring to our father Abraham. You find that before the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the Flood upon the men of Sodom, our father Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the worlds, You have sworn that You will not bring a flood upon the world. And what is the proof? "For this is to Me like the waters of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth" (Isaiah 54:9). A flood of water You do not bring — but perhaps a flood of fire You bring? How are You evading the oath? "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked" and so forth (Genesis 18:25). "Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?" (ibid.). If it is justice You seek, there is no world; and if it is the world You seek, there is no justice. Why are You grasping the rope at both its ends? You desire Your world and You desire judgment of truth. If You do not relent a little, the world cannot stand. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Abraham, "you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness" (Psalms 45:8) — you have loved to justify My creatures, and "you have hated wickedness," you have hated to condemn them; "therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." What is the meaning of "above your fellows"? The Holy One said to him: From Noah until you, I have not spoken with a single one of them; with you alone do I speak first. This is what is written: "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying" and so forth (Genesis 15:1). Rabbi Azariah in the name of Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon explained the verse as referring to Isaiah. Isaiah said: I was walking about in my house of study, and I heard the voice of the LORD saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" and so forth (Isaiah 6:8). He said: I sent Amos, and they would call him "the stammerer." Rabbi Pinhas said: Why was his name called Amos? Because he was stammering [pesilos] in his speech. They said: The Holy One, blessed be He, has set aside His whole world and has caused His Presence to rest upon none but this stammerer, this one cut off in tongue. I sent Micah, and they would strike him on the cheek: "with a rod they strike upon the cheek the judge of Israel" (Micah 4:14). Henceforth, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8). At once, "And I said, Here am I; send me" (ibid.). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Isaiah, My children are obstinate, they are troublesome; do you accept upon yourself to be beaten and disgraced by them? He said to Him: On that condition. "I gave my back to those who smite, and my cheeks to those who pluck off the hair" and so forth (Isaiah 50:6), and yet I am not worthy that I should go on Your mission to Your children. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Isaiah, "you have loved righteousness" (Psalms 45:8) — you have loved to justify My children, "and you have hated wickedness" (ibid.), you have hated to condemn them; "therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows" (ibid.). What is the meaning of "above your fellows"? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, all the prophets who prophesy, a prophet prophesies from the mouth of a prophet. The spirit of Elijah rested upon Elisha (II Kings 2:15); the spirit of Moses rested upon the seventy elders, "and he took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders" (Numbers 11:25). But you prophesy from the mouth of the Almighty: "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me" and so forth (Isaiah 61:1). And not only that, but all the prophets who prophesy, they prophesy simple prophecies, but you prophesy doubled prophecies: "Awake, awake" (ibid. 51:9), "Rouse yourself, rouse yourself" (ibid. 51:17), "I will greatly rejoice" (ibid. 61:10), "I, even I" (ibid. 51:12), "Comfort, comfort My people" (ibid. 40:1).